Today’s “17 Step Commute” Dashboard…
Temp: Morning 68. High of 82 today 😎 Cold front with rain coming this evening (plunging us down to the 50s tonight and 60s tomorrow).
Humidity: 3 on the “Soup” scale. Bisque-ish (1=light broth, 5=thick chowder)
Today’s Playlist: Reggae shuffle
Conditions: Cloudy with a chance of mosquitos.
Estimated Travel Time: 15 seconds
Food: Mealy apple 😕
Coffee Level: 1/4 Tank
Whatever your craft, you will need to find the raw materials to produce your product or artwork. Being a woodworker, I can only speak on wood stocks and places I have experience with. But, if you are a resourceful fabric worker or creator of “foundling” accessories, you may still be able to get something out of my search processes.
Trending Woods
Believe it or not, wood types trend. There are months or year long periods that the popularity of certain woods put them above all others. Walnut has been the most in demand for the past 4 years, but Cherry, Maple and Oak have all had their reigns.
In the beginning, I bought small amounts of domestic hardwoods and a few exotic woods that I thought were appropriate to my craft and tested them in my Etsy shop. Those that did well I restocked. Those that didn’t got 86ed.
I am now letting my stock of exotic woods dwindle, unless I find them as broken furniture, scraps or cut-offs. Despite their beauty, I have a hard time buying dimensional lumber boards that are better suited for cabinetry and furniture or that may be sourced and harvested in questionable ways.
The variety of beautiful North American hardwoods is extensive and are more likely to fall under stricter harvesting regulations. So, I am leaning this way for the future.
Where to Find?
I quickly found out that during the 18 year (+/-) hiatus from my craft, the existence of real lumber yards had been replaced with big-box “Home Improvement” stores. Finding good, hardwood lumber has been an issue that has mostly moved online. However, I prefer to get personal with my lumber.
The closest “old-school” hardwood supplier is now about 35 miles away. Hardwood Lumber and Millwork of Lakeland, Florida. They always stock a wide and reliable variety of both domestic and exotic stuff and their pricing makes it well worth the trip. With Florida traffic, visits there tend to turn into an all day event that I prefer to deal with only two or three times a year. So, I try to stock up on my most popular woods for 5 or 6 months at a time.
Cabinet and furniture makers usually have scraps lying around that they are sometimes willing to let go for a negligible price, if they are not already spoken for. I made a friend a while back that did CNC chess boards (among other things) that turned me on to 5 or 6 exotic woods that he found too difficult to work with his methodology.
Found Materials
If your products are smallish like mine, using materials you find is not only economically smart and “green”, but is a bit like treasure hunting. Garage sales, thrift stores, antique auctions, dumpsters and roadside piles can provide troves of usable stuff.
Beware! This activity can be habit forming and you will start seeing raw materials everywhere. It is also quite infuriating to drivers behind you, as you slam on brakes to investigate a tower of discarded cabinets or stack of chairs. Visiting relatives and measuring up Aunty June’s prized antique sideboard may seem a bit rude to those without the creative “eye”. Go figure...
Keep in mind that unless you have plenty of room at home to store these finds until you need them, you run the risk of appearing to be a hoarder. The city may get on your case if it is visible from the road. I tend to break stuff down as I get them so they don’t take up too much real estate in my shop, discarding any remnants with my household trash pick up. This helps keep inspectors at bay.
Upcycling castaway furniture from roadside heaps reduce landfill demands and lets live trees continue to produce oxygen, absorbing carbon. It gives beautiful wood a new incarnation to live on for years instead of moldering away with Twinkie wrappers and political signage. It does require a bit of workshop time dismantling and avoiding screws, nails and dodgy seam lines, but can fill your woodbins with usable and inexpensive stock for future use. Extreme care must be taken, lest you wreck a $60.00 table saw blade on an embedded nail or screw.
Pallet wood can be quite usable as well, but remember that they have been previously used (and reused) for moving a variety of materials. They may contain toxins that have leaked from punctured containers over their years. You don’t want to use them for items that come in contact with food or skin (namely chopsticks and keychains). For this reason, I avoid pallets as they also have countless nails and require a lot of sweat for minimal gain. Pallet rebuilding is an active and thriving concern in our area, so they will not likely go to waste if you don’t rescue them.
Material Sources -
The following have been my most common sources of wood. Now that I have a consistent following and customer base, but very little “hunt” time, I tend to rely on my Lakeland source and make the trip 2 or 3 times a year.
Rated from low to high price… 1=Low to 5=High
Roadside Treasures (Cost rating - 1) For only the cost of your gas and time, trash heaps along the road or unlocked dumpsters at apartment complexes can produce lots of broken furniture, plywood and other raw materials, if your ego allows you to be seen doing it .
Brush piles from neighborhood tree removal can also yield usable (and sometimes spectacular) wood. I have found persimmons, holly, sycamore and other fine woods, waiting for the landfill minions. After hurricane Charlie and his sibs came through in 2004, the dumps ran out of room and debris was schlepped hundreds of miles for disposal. However, to make this free source of material viable, you will need the means to mill it into usable slabs. Then you will have to find a dry, out-of-the-way place to keep it. It usually takes about a year per one inch thick wood. So, FREE is not necessarily cheap or easy.
However you find it… AVOID ANY BUG ACTIVITY! Beware of anything with signs of critter activity, new or old. You DO NOT want to bring these rascals anywhere near your home. Their eggs can remain dormant until conditions are ripe for a hatch. After your dive, be sure to brush yourself off well so that you do not have any hitchhikers. They can make the price of your discovery way more expensive than the finest Indian Rosewood at your online lumber monger.
*TIP: If you do happen upon a large cache of questionable wood or furniture, you might be able to make a deal with an exterminator service to put your find in the next house they are tenting for termites. We did this with antiques back in the early 90s.
Garage sales (Cost Rating - 2) are particularly intriguing as they can offer a wide spectrum of usable stuff at the best prices. From solid wood furniture, to buckets of hardware, to tools that might come in handy; all can be found at yard sales. If you see a stack of decent lumber or plywood off to the side without a price sticker, don’t be afraid to ask “how much” or make an offer. It is likely that they hadn’t even thought of selling it. I also get great shop rags from unwanted cotton clothes.
Thrift stores (Cost Rating - 2) are another great source of stuff that need a new incarnation. The prices will be slightly higher than garage sales, but still cheap. The added benefit is that the money you spend will likely go to a great cause, as they are usually run by charity organizations.
Antique auctions (Cost Rating - 3 or 4) are fun and addictive. However, it is easy to get caught up in the bidding process, especially with a charismatic auctioneer. You may have to sit through tons of items in which you have no interest or knowledge. I had to stop Julie once from bidding on Krugerrands (that she knew nothing about) only because she was bored and they were selling about a hundred of them, individually. She is lucky that none were “dropped” on her. This also had the effect of pissing off real bidders as it was driving up the prices. I am not above bidding $50.00 on an upright Steinway that no one wants to move, then dismantling the case and keyboard for future use. Musicians would consider this sacrilegious, but many antique pianos contain rare rosewoods, ebony and Sitka spruce (as well as real ivory) that deserve a new incarnation.. The strings can be used on your cigar box guitars, if you are into that sort of thing. So, piano players that are offended by my actions need to get to auctions and bid on those pianos! Get there early and be sure to preview, inspect and touch anything you’d likely bid on. From your seat in the hall, it is impossible to determine its value. It is disappointing to win an old sideboard that you didn’t preview, finding it is not that old and made of particle board. Still, you may be able to use it for shop furniture and jigs.
Real lumber yards (Cost Rating - 4) are my favorite and easiest source, but are becoming an anachronism in today’s world. Big Box stores have replaced privately owned yards over the last few decades, like “Wally-World” has led to dead downtown shopping communities. They primarily carry building materials, mostly imported, that are not of the quality we saw 30 years ago. While good stuff can still be found there, be aware that their kiln dried lumber is usually rushed through the process to get it to market and from juvenile trees that are not as strong as the “old growth” lumber we used to get. Plywood is mostly short on its plies and long on questionable glues that contain urea formaldehyde and other unknown chemicals that are allowed with overseas manufacturers. I am particular about the woods that I use. My chopsticks and keychains require straight, clear grain. Customers expect uniformity, at least within the batch that I am creating for them. Most hardwood lumber yards will let you pick through their stacks for what you need. Be courteous and restack the way you found it (or better than you found it). The closest real lumber yard to me is about 35 miles away, Hardwood Lumber and Millwork of Lakeland. In Florida traffic, that translates to an hour’s drive, each way. Therefore, I only visit them two or three times a year to stock up on my most popular species.
Online lumber (Cost Rating - 5) dealers are usually reliable, but you still have to research the seller and balance reviews with their number of sales. Unless you have found a consistent vendor, avoid listings that do not show the actual piece that you will receive. Some wood dealers will take a “representative” photo of a beauty slab of dark walnut, but when you receive it it is half sapwood or defects that will hamper the use you intended to use it for. Be sure you are aware of rising shipping costs and include them in the cost of your products. You can contact the seller to get a “combined shipping” quote.
Local Landscape (Cost Rating - 1) Don’t discount your own landscape or the woods behind your home. I have 2 bushels of gnarly English boxwood trunk stems (50+ years old) drying in the rafters of my shop. They come from our yard here in Florida and started dying off due to an unknown ailment. I harvested them after trying to save them but before they started to deteriorate. They will take 2-3 years to air-dry for use. English Boxwood is traditionally a fine carving wood that is very hard and strong, used for chess sets, cane handles and jewelry. A treasure trove for the future.
There are more and more portable mills and kiln services popping up in communities across the country. Call a few tree services in your area. They may happily surprise you with their knowledge and services. They maintain hundreds of species of hardwoods that grow in suburban communities. How wonderful to find a locally harvested supply of Persimmons or Cuban mahogany!
Wherever your hunt takes you, remember to take a tape measure, work gloves and a sense of adventure. Have fun and try not to piss people off.
HAPPY HUNTING!
Peace in Wood ~ Scott
See my offering of Chopsticks, Keychains and Desk Names here;
If you are enjoying what you see… I like it hot and black. 😉
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